Human Body Odor

Body odor is a fact of life that we have had to deal with throughout our evolution. Interestingly enough, it is not the sweat we produce that causes the smell of body odor. Sweat itself is odorless. Human body odor actually stems from the bacteria interacting with the sweat that reaches the skin's surface.

There are two different types of sweat produced by the human body. There is eccrine and apocrine sweat. Eccrine sweat is produced by the body's eccrine glands and are present all over the human body. Eccrine sweat regulates and cools your body's temperature. If it were not for eccrine sweat, our bodies would overheat.

The other type of sweat is apocrine sweat. Apocrine sweat is produced by apocrine glands in the groin and underarm area. This is where all the stench that we try to avoid comes from. Apocrine sweat is thicker and contains fat that the bacteria present on our skin love to multiply in. Some people who have more of a problem controlling body odor inherit larger apocrine glands.

Body odor can be a more substantial problem for some than others. Diet, medications, medical conditions, and improper hygiene can all lead to an increase in body odor smell. Luckily, the human body can be cleaned easily and body odor be managed effectively.

For most people, underarm body odor can be managed by good personal hygiene and by wearing a deodorant that contains an antiperspirant. It is for those who cannot control their human body odor problem, that other suggestions are available.

If body odor is a real issue for you, you try using an antibacterial or a pine soap. The antibacterial soap will obviously rid of the bacteria causing the odor, and the pine soap will eliminate the smell for lengthier periods of time than regular soap. Upon drying yourself, immediately apply an antiperspirant to your underarms and a body powder to your groin area. If an antiperspirant is useless for reducing the amount you sweat, then try an antibiotic topical cream under the arm to inhibit bacterial growth.

You also need to make sure you wear clean clothes, meaning that after each wearing, you need to launder your clothes. If you have really bad body odor, you may need to change your clothes twice a day. Once in the morning and once mid-day.

Check your body odor diet. If you are eating garlic, onions, red meat, fish, liver, fried foods, processed foods, curry, spicy foods, and eggs, you may be more susceptible to producing a pungent body odor. If you notice a sudden change in the way you smell, first check you diet. If your symptoms do not improve within a few days, see your doctor immediately. Sometimes, human body odor can be caused by an underlying, sometimes serious, disease.